Working the Plate: The Art of Food Presentation
Web Watch enjoys food – whether it be the business of running a food place, the art of creating delicacies, or random food-related TV shows, food can be very entertaining.
Both the National Restaurant Association and food trend firm Technomic have released their lists of 2011 restaurant trends – so be on the lookout for these over the next few months as you go out to eat at your favorite place.
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If you are a family with kids and you’re on a budget, eating out can definitely be a problem. Kids just want to eat, and don’t necessarily have the concept down about eating within a budget. They just point at the macaroni-and-cheese, chicken fingers, fries (and other brown and tan foods without a vegetable in sight) and say “I want that!”
This is why the Disney Dining Plan that offers a “pay-one-price” for all members of your family is so popular. Families on those massively-planned-out Disney trips can go to any restaurant on property and tell the kids to “eat whatever you want”, because the meal has already been paid for.
And yes, those kids are in for a shock when they return to the real world and discover that they can’t just eat anything on the menu again. It’s just another way Disney makes a vacation seem more special.
So what can families do to continue that type of “eat anything you want” Disney magic when they’re dining out with the kids again once they’re back at home?
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Remember the Men’s Underwear Economic Index that Web Watch mentioned the other day?
Have you heard about the HOT WAITRESS ECONOMIC INDEX?
As the creators of the index note, it is similar to the Overeducated Cabbie Index or Speed at Which Contractors Return Calls Index, both of which should give the casual observer some indication of how desperate for work some people are during certain economic times.
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Restaurants and Institutions magazine has released their 2009 list of the TOP 400 RESTAURANT CHAINS, in terms of revenue.
Coming in at top is no surprise: McDonalds, with over US$70 billion in sales.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten are:
The magazine also released their annual list of the TOP EARNING INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS FOR 2009 as well.
Just as Web Watch reported a few years ago the first time we looked at these statistics, Las Vegas-based TAO is still at the top of the list, with $68m in 2008 earnings and an average dinner check of $72. Not bad, when you have 785,000 people coming through your door.
The rest of the top 10 independent restaurants were:
Falling just out of the top 10, at spot number 11, is our first Walt Disney World property, Fulton’s Crab House. With an average check of $45, Fulton’s made $20m in 2008. Other Disney properties that made the list include Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at #25 ($15.7m), and the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill at #97 ($11.1m).
ZAGAT surveyed 6,100 hungry fast-food and full-service restaurant patrons about their favorite places to eat, and has finally compiled and released the results for 2009.
The best fast-food hamburger, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has eaten there, is from IN-N-OUT BURGER. Best burger from a full-service restaurant came from RED ROBIN.
The other fast-food winners included:
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Looking at restaurant ratings is always entertaining, and RESTAURANTS & INSTITUTIONS magazine has posted a few of their “top” lists for 2007.
TOP INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS: Sure, the Tao nightclub at the Venetian in Las Vegas would rank number one – they have all those celebrities coming in at all hours of the night, dropping $55m in food and beverage sales (600,000 meals at an average $70 ticket does that). Tavern on the Green in New York comes in 2nd, followed by Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach. Yes, there are the usual New York, Las Vegas, and Washington DC suspects… but here’s where it gets interesting: